Bradenton, FL: Woman's Murder Still Unsolved.........
Slimpickins
Bradenton woman's murder still a mystery
By JACKIE BARRON
of WFLA News Channel 8
BRADENTON - A bizarre murder mystery still haunts the Bradenton Police
Department one year after the body of a 25-year-old woman left few clues to
follow.
It happened the night of March 27, 2000, at the Walmart on Cortez Road.
That's where Tara Reilly went to meet a mysterious caller and never came
home.
``She wanted to be a doctor,`` Kathleen Reilly said as she describes her
daughter, ``that was her dream and she wanted to save the world.''
Tara Reilly wanted her daughter back. At the time, Lexi, now 7, was caught
in the middle of a bitter custody battle between Tara and her ex-boyfriend
Pat Brinker.
But before the courts settled the custody dispute, a passerby found Tara's
naked body in the wooded area behind Walmart.
Kathleen Reilly recalls the day an anonymous caller lured her daughter into
a deathtrap using information about Lexi as the bait.
``And I remember her last words as she went out of the house she says, `Mom
don't worry - it's Walmart's parking lot. I'll be safe.''
The moment still haunts Kathleen Reilly. Her only daughter had just survived
a deadly bout with lupus only to walk right into the hands of a killer.
``Even after I was told that she had been murdered, I still put clean sheets
on the bed and hoped she would come home. I still hoped,'' said said.
Continuous problems have clouded the Reilly case. The day of the murder
Walmart's security cameras weren't working.
The Bradenton Police Department in the last year changed the team of
officers investigating the killing and detectives say anyone they try to
question about the case immediately retains an attorney.
``I feel that Tara's at peace. It's her family that's not. We don't know
who, we don't know why,` says Kathleen Reilly, whose voice trembles in a
constant emotional quiver.
She forges forward by keeping watch over the puppy Tara bought just before
her death.
Every Sunday she visits her daughter's grave, recently placing spring
flowers and an Easter bunny at the headstone. Kathleen Reilly says she and
her husband, Raymond, find strength in the few hours each month Tara's
ex-boyfriend allows them to visit their granddaughter.
They say they get their courage from their angel now watching from above.
The Reillys just filed for full custody of Lexi carrying on the fight they
believe their daughter died trying to win.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Bradenton Police Department at
941-708-6273.